Motorsports auto news

Official: Ferrari claims unofficial lap record at Laguna Seca

Setting the fastest lap on any race track is worth its share of bragging rights, but some are worth more than others. Like the Nürburgring Nordschleife, for example. Or the Top Gear test track. Or, on this side of the pond, Laguna Seca.

The Mazda Raceway near Monterey, California, is one of the most challenging circuits in the world. It's got a double-apex hairpin at the start, an off-camber sweep to the left and of course the dreaded Corkscrew that drops five and a half stories with tight turns at top and bottom. Little wonder, then, that its lap record is a subject of such contention.

The record was set at 1:07.722 by Helio Castroneves in 2000 behind the wheel of a Penske Champ Car. And that remains the fastest official time since the ones that followed were not set during an officially-sanctioned race weekend. But, in 2006, Ricardo Zonta drove the Toyota TF106 there to an unofficial new record of 1:06.039. Sebastian Bourdais took it back for the Champ Car series the following year at 1:05.880. But now Ferrari has taken the unofficial crown at 1:05.786.

The record lap was set during the Ferrari Racing Days event by veteran scuderia test driver and Le Mans winner Marc Gené, behind the wheel of the Ferrari F2003-GA, the car named for the late Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli with which Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello took seven grand prix wins and both titles in the 2003 Formula One World Championship. And now it can go down in history with another accolade to its history. See below for the official announcement.

Continue reading Ferrari claims unofficial lap record at Laguna Seca

Video: Ferrari 458 Italia flips at Laguna Seca

There's the right way to tackle the infamous Corkscrew at Laguna Seca and then there's the way that puts your Ferrari 458 Italia into the catch fence and on its roof. Ryan Ockey recently gave the latter option a shot during the Ferrari Challenge at Mazda Raceway with predictable results. All of the safety equipment both in the car and at the track worked as intended, however, and the driver walked away with little more than a bruised ego. There are no solid reports as to what caused the flying Ferrari, but rumor has it there may have been a brake failure.

Unfortunately, the 458 Italia had to be pulled from the gravel trap by a tow truck, which meant a long, painful slog downhill on the Italian exotic's roof. Check out two videos of the carnage and the rescue to see what we mean. Jump forward to two minutes in on the second clip to see things go downhill for Ockey.

Continue reading Ferrari 458 Italia flips at Laguna Seca

Official: Truth in 24 II available as free download on iTunes

Good news, Le Mans fans. Audi has released its "Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts" documentary as a free download on iTunes. As with the first film, this sequel is narrated by none other than Jason Statham and details the Audi battle for its tenth win at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. As you may recall, the race was a nail-biter for the race team. After seeing its sister entries removed from competition, the #2 R18 TDI went on to take the checkered flag by fighting off three rival Peugeot entries.

But the story was about more than the drivers and the cars. Team engineer Leena Gade officially became the first female in history to lead a Le Mans team to an overall victory.

Audi also made another documentary about the U.S. Ski Team called "Truth in Motion," and all three films are available for free on iTunes. Check out the full press release below for more information.

Continue reading Truth in 24 II available as free download on iTunes

Official: Toyota aims to put more "stock" into stock cars with 2013 NASCAR Camry

NASCAR may have once been a form of motorsport in which only domestic automakers competed. And that's largely still the case, with one notable exception: Toyota. The Japanese automaker faced some difficulty breaking into the Good Ol' Boys racing series, but though some purists may still malign it, Toyota is in NASCAR to stay. And this is its latest car.

"Based", in design anyway, on the latest Camry, the new stock car from Toyota Racing Development is set to compete in the Sprint Cup next season, alongside the new Ford Fusion (among other competitors from Dodge and Chevy). The result of "an aggressive redesign", the new racer was developed with input from the company's Calty Design studio to look more like the road-going Camry than ever before.

Yes, it does bear a resemblance to its road-going cousin, especially in the fascia. That said, it's still a composite body over a tube frame powered by a V8 engine driving the rear wheels. In other words, this is a Camry in name only.

Of course it doesn't hurt Toyota's case that the Camry is built in America with more American components than most "domestic" vehicles, and now the stock car looks more stock, too. Keep reading below for the full press release.

Continue reading Toyota aims to put more "stock" into stock cars with 2013 NASCAR Camry

Motorsports: Ford Racing unveils first livery of 2013 Fusion stock car

What's a fresh face worth? A lot when you're talking about NASCAR. Because the styling is about all that links a stock car to the production vehicle it's made to mirror. And for Ford, the latest is the new Fusion.

The Blue Oval automaker unveiled the race car "based" on the new Fusion back in January. But at the Roush Fenway Fan Day in Concord, North Carolina, this coming Thursday, fans will get their first chance to see the new stock car in full race livery.

The paint scheme in question bears the red and white colors of Motorcraft, Ford's spare parts division, as it will be raced by the Wood Brothers team in this year's Sprint Cup. But if you can't wait that long and aren't going to be near Concord this week, you can check out the full-size clay mock-up put together by the Ford Design Center in Dearborn in the pair of high-resolution images below.

Video: Watch Guy Martin outrun a helicopter at the Isle of Man

While there are some specialty machines that are capable of relatively high velocity, your average run-of-the-mill helicopter can't sustain speeds much higher than 100 miles per hour. That said, because of the heli's ability to climb high into the air with cameramen packing extreme telephoto lenses, actually managing to trick a chopper pilot into losing you - in scenes sure to be played out monthly on national news channels - is another matter entirely.

So, what would it take to actually outrun a helicopter? As demonstrated by professional racer Guy Martin in the video after the break, a modern superbike has more than enough speed to do the trick. In the case of Martin's modified Suzuki GSX-R1000, which boasts a terminal velocity in excess of 200 mph, all you'd need is a road straight enough to pin the throttle for a dozen seconds or so...

All of which brings us to the Isle of Man, nestled away in the Irish Sea. Every year, legions of racers and fans line the 38-mile-long Snaefell Mountain Course to watch racers like Guy Martin test the depths of insanity as they seek to outpace their rivals on what basically amounts to closed surface streets. See what it looks like as a helicopter does its best to follow the action in the video pasted below.

Continue reading Watch Guy Martin outrun a helicopter at the Isle of Man

Video: Ken Block's Gymkhana 4 re-edited with less "Hollywood"

The fourth installment of Ken Block's Gymkhana series was aptly subtitled "The Hollywood Megamercial." We know Ken needs to sell some DC Shoes apparel to pay for these lavish drifting productions, but the sales pitch stole the spotlight from the action in Gymkhana 4. Ever wonder what the video would have been like without the special effects and clothing commercials?

It took them the better part of a year, but DC Shoes has finally released a bonus edit that removes the "Hollywood" parts of the video, leaving just the gymkhana parts that we all clicked Play to watch in the first place.

Cutting out the special effects and infomercial aspects shortens the video from a weighty 9:16 to a lithe and focused 5:11. The difference between the two vids is most apparent by comparing when the Ford Racing rally Focus leaves the starting line. Original video: 1:25. New edit: 0:09. Over a minute was saved just by cutting the clip of Ken Block on fire and nixing the opening credits for his wardrobe. Another two minutes was saved at the end by leaving the Bollywood dance on the cutting room floor.

Scroll down to watch the new bonus edit that lets the viewer better appreciate the skill required to perform such stunts, as well as the original version. You can also click here to watch a YouTube Doubler of the videos playing side-by-side.

Continue reading Ken Block's Gymkhana 4 re-edited with less "Hollywood"

Official: Buick Regal GS clocked at 162 mph [w/video]

According to General Motors, the Regal GS is officially the fastest Buick ever made. The sedan's lead development engineer, Bill Rietow, and powertrain drive quality engineer, John Townsend, did their part to support the assertion when they ran the Regal GS in the Nevada Open Road Challenge. The event isn't about all-out speed, but about a driver finishing the course in a pre-set time. It has speed-limited and wide-open sections, and during one flat-out phase the Regal GS hit 162 miles per hour.

The same pair took Most Accurate Rookie honors last year in the 120-mph class, so this year they jumped to the top-tier 135-mph class. They finished second, four-tenths shy of their 40-minute target time over the 90-mile course. Scroll down to see the engineers talking about the course and the car, and for a press release on the achievement.

Continue reading Buick Regal GS clocked at 162 mph [w/video]

Motorsports: Penske hires Jacques Villeneuve for two NASCAR Nationwide races

Unlike his pre-BAR Honda F1 days, Jacques Villeneuve's NASCAR career has been strewn with potholes - and by "potholes" we mean crashes, mechanical failures and lowly finishes. But there have been a few successes, with third-place finishes at Montreal in 2010 and at Road America in 2011 - both road courses - and pole position at Montreal last year in the Nationwide Series.

Penske Racing is giving Villeneuve a chance to improve those placings, having offered the French-Canadian a drive in the #22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger for both of those races. Villeneuve subbed for regular Penske team driver Brad Keselowski during those two rounds in 2011, adding a 27th in Montreal to his third at Road America.

The adventure will give Villeneuve 12 NASCAR starts in the last five years, and having taken pole position at Montreal and been on the podium twice, it's not outrageous to figure he's in with a chance. "I feel, after winning the pole last year at Montreal," he said, "that we can have a lot of success. A NASCAR victory is something I want."

Top Gear building its own Nissan DeltaWing race car

Think back to childhood for a moment. What did you do when you wanted, say, a new skateboard, but mom and dad were dragging their heels about ponying up for one? That's right, you built your own, out of bits of scrap plywood and some old wheels discarded by an older sibling. And it sucked.

We see the same situation playing out here. The children at Top Gear are absolutely gaga for the DeltaWing race car, which Nissan will be campaigning at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. And even if they are Top Gear, nobody at Nissan is going to just give them an experimental race car for futzing around. So they are building their own. Or at least a simulacrum of the DeltaWing, out of what appears to be junk.

Details are scarce, but the image gallery Top Gear has on its website tells enough of the story that we're pretty sure they aren't going to come anywhere close. Not only does the 1,100-pound curb weight of the revolutionary race car present something of a challenge when you're basically welding the thing up from scratch, but whatever that ancient engine sitting in the nose of the Top Gear project is, we're plenty sure it won't be packing the 300-plus horsepower of Nissan's turbocharged four.

But just as your pre-pubescent charm and pluckiness eventually prevailed in the skateboard scenario, we're thinking Top Gear might be on to something with its fanboy-ish DeltaWing replica. After all, mom may have embarrassed you in the skate shop, but she did get you the real thing, didn't she?